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Compositional convection in viscous melts

Nature volume 338, pages 571–574 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

DURING solidification of multi-component melts, gradients in temperature and composition develop on different scales because of the large difference between their respective molecular diffusivities. Two consequences are the development of double-diffusive convection1 and the creation of mushy zones in which solid and liquid intimately coexist with a complex small-scale geometry2,3. Theoretical analysis requires simplifying assumptions that must be verified by laboratory experiments. Hitherto, experiments have been carried out with aqueous solutions which do not accurately represent the dynamics of melts with high Prandtl numbers, such as magmas. Here we describe the characteristics of compositional convection using a new experimental technique which allows the viscosity of the solution to be varied independently of chemical composition and liquidus temperature. A supereutectic melt was cooled from below, causing the growth of a horizontal layer of crystals. Convective instability occurred when the local solutal Rayleigh number of the compositional boundary layer ahead of the advancing crystallization front attained a value of ∼3 on average. We observed a novel regime of convection in which the thermal boundary layer above the crystallization front was essentially unmodified by the motion of the plumes. The plumes carried a small heat flux and did not mix the fluid to a uniform temperature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Dynamique des Systèmes Géologiques, Université Paris 7 et Institut de Physique du Globe, 4 place Jussieu, 75252, Paris, Cedex 05, France

    Stephen Tait & Claude Jaupart

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  1. Stephen Tait
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  2. Claude Jaupart
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Tait, S., Jaupart, C. Compositional convection in viscous melts. Nature 338, 571–574 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/338571a0

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